2529/Here Comes A Thought

Here Comes A Thought
Date of Scene:	13 May 2025
Location:	Crystal Tokyo
Synopsis:	While exploring the castle, Minako follows the sound of someone playing the piano only to find Izou. She stops to check up on him and their talk turns into a sob fest on both their parts.
Cast of Characters:	Minako Aino, Zoisite
Tinyplot:	Black Moon Clan
Tinyplot2:	BMC: Dimension Future

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Minako Aino has posed:
In an effort ot save some of her energy for later, Minako had fallen out of henshin a bit ago once they arrived in the safety of the castle. Everyone here knew her true identity and if they didn't? Did it really matter at this point? Only once she's already changed does the errant worry of whether or not her future-self's identity might have been revealed.

Too late now.

Dressed in her casual jumper and shirt combo with comfy slip-on shoes, she finds herself exploring the castle just a bit. There was a lot to see. Her meandering did have a purpose; to learn the layout of the castle in case it fell to her or the others to defend it. The other reason was she could actually wander and clear her head for a bit.

When the first strains of a piano find her in the halls she's not entirely sure if she's hearing things or not. It's not the sort of song that would get stuck in her head, she decides, before starting off to follow the source.

The door to the music room is quietly nudged open so she can slip inside trying not to interrupt the pianist inside. "Zoisite?" Oh, right, he did mention he played. When she'd left the majority of the group quite awhile ago though he was headed for the library.

Zoisite has posed:
Headed to the library, where research was done, confrontations were had and decisions were made. Genuinely stupid ones, were he in any other mindset, but made all the same. And like Minako, he had wandered away from the library in hopes to clear his head, keep his chest from bursting. He was hiding it well enough, but everything had limits.

The gods were merciful however, having lead him to a more silent area of the palace where a heavy door was left semi open and he could see the curves of a grand piano.

It was all he truly needed in that moment.

For how long he's been there, he did not know, and this was not the first song he has played through from start to finish. Out of his henshin, the pads of his fingers danced over ivory keys--dream like. Music, the ability to let his mind slip away from whatever ailed him was a method of coping since childhood. So losing hours was easy for him. Losing focus, to a point that he did not see who snuck in to hear him.

He had not considered someone would have found him there, playing the notes of Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake's theme in emotional turmoil until... He heard his name.

Music stops, eyes open and he turns to look. "...Mina-chan." Her name is sighed, like she had startled him. He was wearing casual dark jeans and a comfortable shirt with a V-neck. Green bow and icy blue gem pinned to it still.

"You scared me. What are you doing in this side of the palace?"

Minako Aino has posed:
"Exploring, mostly." Minako responds with an apparently indifferent shrug as she moves to join him at the piano. Without asking if he minds the company, she swings herself around to plop down beside him on the piano bench. Though at least she doesn't reach for the keys! She had no idea how to play to begin with. Her hands end up in her lap instead.

Mina almost leaves the remark at that. She was just wandering, exploring. Nothing more important than that. Just something the silly blonde would do, right? It was just them here at the moment. Given the music even she could tell he had a lot on his mind. Enough that she decides to be honest. "And learning the layout of the castle in case we have to defend it from inside. Even if we have a few 'guides' with us at the moment that doesn't mean they'll always be available."

Now she lifts a hand to reach a single finger for one of the keys to plonk-plink-plonk it a few times testingly.

"I thought you'd still be in the library. What happened?"

Zoisite has posed:
What happened indeed. The one note almost echoed after being pressed a few times.

"Nothing happened. I was in the library and found what I feel is sufficient to sate my curiosity. And perhaps of others, were they to considered it valuable information." Green gaze watched over his finger on the key, lowering his hands to his lap as they talked. No point in playing now.

Deep inhale then.

"Masato and Rashmi were with me as I researched. They saw me collapse after I used one of my abilities to gather all the information I needed from the palace's servers. I hate using it, makes me weak. But it's the fastest way to gather information for now."

Lips pursed, head lowering some. "I also just needed to step away. Clear my head. I wasn't paying attention to where I was walking and I was lucky to find this room. I hope the owners do not mind. The piano didn't seem to have been used in ages."

His left hand lifted to slide over a few more keys, the first notes of The Waltz of Flowers. "How have you been, since our last battle?"

Minako Aino has posed:
Minako Aino glances aside toward Izou at mention of a power she didn't know about. Then again she was fairly certain most of hers weren't known either, if only because the reason to use them hadn't come up in quite awhile. If Nephrite and Rashmi were there she doesn't have to press him on that at least. There were other issues lingering that she'd wanted to check on him over.

"I'm fine. It was just a fight." Against two near identical twins that looked and sounded eerily like the boy they both had feelings around in one way or another.

"I wanted to come check on you after the fight. With what happened though I figured it'd be best to let Mako-chan talk to you first." Her hands move away from the keys entirely so that she doesn't get in the way of his playing if he wanted to continue.

"How are *you* doing? The Boule Brothers... We all know who they resembled. That's why you jumped out there."

Zoisite has posed:
Nods at her observation. "Yeah, it was. I got angry. Very angry. And weak. Considering how little we knew of the Black Moon Clan and who all could be involved, there was a possibility that it could have been them. Very unlikely, but not zero, always has a chance of being true." A few more notes, letting each one linger as the string within the grand piano reverberated lovingly.

"But me and Makoto came to an understanding. I did not mean to attack her. After my stunt with you, which was also done without intention, I take Mamoru's rules seriously. ...Despite what others think of me." A shrug if given.

"I though, in the chaos of everything, that her attack was going to be a lightning strike, not a punch. At least I kept her from getting as stuck as Nephrite's sword." Huffs, a little smirk on his face.

Three more notes, the tune slowly morphing to another more known one. An idle of his left hand as he spoke. "...Even if those twins were not Kunzite, we're not sure if our counter parts were even born here. They could have been copies, like the droids. He, or Jadeite could have been born on Nemesis. We don't know." Clair de Lune.

Minako Aino has posed:
"No, we don't," Mina agrees while listening to this new song that he was beginning to play. Even she has to admit, "It's hard dealing with knee-jerk reactions at times. Especially when confronted with something like that."

The tune was so soft and sad she finds herself listening to it quietly while her gaze watches his fingers move over the keys with familiarity. It was rather interesting to watch someone perform a skill. She had nothing like this-- Just sports.

"I admit I thought the same at first." Although, she hadn't stopped fighting or hesitated. As the song gets to the deeper aspects, she turns her gaze away.

"You're right, we don't know if they might have been reborn on Nemesis or may be influenced by them. So," she lets the rest out in a single breath.

"Just let me handle it if we need to make that decision. I'm used to it."

Zoisite has posed:
"..." He's silent as he lets the words take their toll on his mind. With Makoto, he was given two choices when in truth he wanted a third. To kill a corrupted beloved, or join them, Zoisite--Izou--wanted to die instead. And yet, he knew what he needed to do.

Mamoru was his priority. Would always be. In this, he knew they all were on the same page. Even the senshi. But gods, it hit him hard when Minako offered to do it for him, if that decision had to be made.

Stars, he was being so pathetic. Biting over his lower lip in hopes of keeping it in, lifting his face just a little while fingers still found the keys on the grand piano to play--

Until the first tears began to slide down. Composure breaking slowly to a point he had to stop playing and cover his mouth with both hands.

"I... shouldn't have come here--" Muffled, between quiet sobs.

I'm so pathetic.

Minako Aino has posed:
Minako Aino draws a quick breath when she realizes Izou is starting to cry beside her. He wasn't one of the Senshi, one of her friends through lifetimes. They'd been enemies more times than they'd been friends.

Right now they were though.

Mina shifts on the bench, twisting toward Izou, to wrap her arms around him in a hug tight enough that it would make continuing to play the piano more than a little difficult.

"You're *not*. Not at all. You have people who care about you, you have a boyfriend, you can play the piano and you're totally cute no matter what you wear! There's just no reason you have to do ... That."

"All my 'boyfriends' have ended up being enemies in disguise and I had to do what I had to do. Ever since I was Sailor V. I *can do that* and I would rather do that for you, or for Usagi, than let you have to deal with what it would do to you."

She'd made the same offer to Usagi after all. Let her be the executioner. Don't let Usagi, Sailor Moon, Princess Serenity--Don't let any of her dirty her hands with such a horrible choice.

In an attempt to add some brevity she blurts out, quieter than she intended because perhaps it is a bit of a sore spot herself, "I know I teased you about Kazuo being my first kiss but he wasn't kissing ME. My first kiss wasn't even meant for me. Now *that* is pathetic, right?" Come on, laugh. She's okay with it.

Zoisite has posed:
Was it really? Kazuo had explained to him right after the incident with Minako's bow that the kiss he'd given was meant for someone else--a beloved teacher. A poor choice, impulsive. Something Izou would have done at that age and possibly did. Even worse, if he could remember most of it. So the attempt at brevity was a little lost on him, shaking his head and leaning it onto Minako's blonde crown.

"He told me," Voice wavered. Izou hated crying, hated how weak it made him feel. But after holding so much in, it's possible he truly needed this after everything. "Said it was meant for someone else. And the more I think about it, it just seems sad for you both.."

Hands pulled away from his mouth, quickly trying to wipe away the tears that kept flowing. "I would have cried if my first kiss was stolen like that, didn't matter who it was." A sniffle.

"I'm sorry..." Mutters. "It makes sense for you to offer it to Usagi, because she is a princess. I'm not. I'm supposed to be a Knight and... I'm failing at that. I meant it when I said I shouldn't have come here. This place isn't my timeline, I can hardly find any empathy to what's happening here. I wavered when I should have been strong..."

Shakes his head. "No, I don't want you to have to do my job. It's mine for a reason. I need... to get better at it."

Minako Aino has posed:
Oh. Oh he'd told... Of course he had. It made sense. He would have had to calm Izou down after all. The fact that her attempt at self-depreciation as means of humor going completely unnoticed would be fine. It's the reaction that HE has that causes her to feel a lump grow in her own throat.

As he starts to wipe at his own eyes she feels her own start to well up with impending blubbering on the way. "Dummy!" She blurts out, lifting a hand to lightly bap the top of his head in turn. Very light, very gentle, and she ends up pushing an errant curl back so that it doesn't stick to his damp cheek. "I offered because she's my friend not because she's a Princess. And yeah you're a knight but that doesn't mean you have to maybe fight and kill the double of your boyfriend! Not when so many of the rest of us can help too."

A quick hiccuping breath is drawn and she utters, "You were supposed to laugh darnit now I'm going to cry too!"

Zoisite has posed:
Izou could feel it in the shakiness of her breath that tears wanted to follow--and something within himself muttered that it was possibly due to the first kiss. How Kazuo had already explained it to him, it all coming to a circle in this moment. Even if she wanted it to be a laughing point, truly, it was more sobering than anything now that he had time to review everything's that happened.

So it was his turn to pull his hands away from his face and wrap them around Minako's middle, returning her hug with his own embrace that was just as tight.

"Don't worry, Mina-chan. I did bring back up make up if you need to touch up." That was his attempt at brevity. A small joke on both their expense on always wanting to look their best at all times. Just like when they shopped together for her new bow.

"Yeah, you're right, I am a dummy. I'm sorry. I've been a dummy for a long, long while." Another sniffle. "Thank you for being as strong as you are, yeah?"

Minako Aino has posed:
"Oh good! I don't always want to use the makeup pen," Mina blurts out when the makeup is mentioned. Sure it was handy but come on! It was better to have actual makeup!

The shared hug is returned and she does allow herself a bit of a laugh over it as well.

"Of course, you're welcome." She does manage at least to get some control over herself as she reaches up to swipe at her own eyes, offering a smile. "I'm going to go back out for the other refugees in awhile. You want me to keep you company until then?"

Zoisite has posed:
Good. She laughed, and that was enough to make him smile for now. A few more tears trailing down as composure was slowly returning. "Yeah, I would like that if you stayed here a little longer. I could play some songs for you. Happier ones maybe?" Suggests, for the two of them. Something more cheerful, hopeful, or silly, could give them the pep they need.

"Just name a song and I can probably do a cover of it on the piano."

One hand latching away so he could reach into his pack, past his phone and pulling out the small make up bag he brought with him.

"Here. Mostly nudes, mascara, and whatever Usagi uses. Pink lip gloss." Hands it over to Minako.

Minako Aino has posed:
Minako Aino swipes at her eyes a few more times making a mess of what she was wearing. It was already fairly old at this point as she'd mainly been in henshin a good long while. When the various items are listed she smiles again. "You're a lifesaver, Izou. I've got plenty of hair care items if you need at some point," she offers as well. Between most of the Senshi and a good chunk of the Shittenou, hair care was also a huge thing. It was definitely something Mina took pride in.

"Um, a song?" This actually causes her to pause considering while she looks back to the piano keys. "Sleep Walking Orchestra? I'm not sure if that has piano in it honestly but..." It was cheery. It was so very cheery.

"We can fix your face too," she offers with a grin before turning hre attention to start working on the makeup bags contents.